Plate XL. 



ICTERUS SPURIUS-Orchard Oriole. 



The Orchard Oriole arrives in Central Ohio about the first week in May, and remains until the 

 beginning of September. Nidification begins the last of May or the first of Juno. Two broods are fre- 

 quently reared. 



LOCALITY: 



Apple-trees and pear-trees in orchards are the most frequented for nesting. Elms, oaks, willows, 

 and other trees growing in cultivated fields, by road-sides, levees, canals, or forming the outskirts of 

 timber-land are also favorite sites. The nest is i^arely found in a large tree or in dense woods. It is 

 equally abundant in the hilly country in the southern and western, and the low, flat plains in the cen- 

 tral and northern portions of the state. In every section these birds are plentiful. 



POSITIOTT : 



There are two common positions for the nest. In the first, the structure is placed at the extremity 

 of a limb, suspended between several twigs, as shown in the illustration. In the second, it is some feet 

 from the end of the branch, and is suspended from several upright twigs so that the bottom usually 

 rests upon the horizontal limb that furnishes its perpendicular supports. These are the two usual methods 

 of construction, but there are, of course, various combinations. The distance from the ground is between 

 five and twenty feet, ten feet being about the average. 



MATERIALS : 



The basket of the nest is woven of long, fresh blades of blue-grass or other long, flat grasses. 

 Fibres, bark-strips, threads, and such like materials as are used by the Baltimore Oriole are seldom, if 

 ever, employed. Within, the nest is generally lined with chicken-feathers, wool, or plant-down. Some- 

 times there is no lining except perhaps a few soft grasses. Occasionally a few long horse-hairs may be 

 found in the structure. By the time the eggs are deposited the grass has become dried and bleached 

 to a light pea-green, and, by the time the young are ready to leave the nest, it is thoroughly dried and 

 yellowed. The external diameter of a typical nest is about three and one-eighth inches; the external 

 depth three and one-half inches. The cavity measures about two and one-fourth inches in diameter by 

 tAvo and three-fourths inches in depth. There is considerable variation in the thickness of the walls and 

 consequently in the external dimensions, as the dimensions of the cavity vary but little, 



EGGS: 



The complement of eggs is usually four; sometimes one more or less. The ground-color of the shell 

 is slightly bluish-green. The markings consist of a few large blotches, spots, specks, and irregular lines 



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